Up 'N' Under

Up ‘N’ Under, and Godber productions in general, have a joke every two lines, are rife with physical comedy, and are populated by Northerners. The story unfolds with the universal dream-logic of farce: it seems only natural that two lifelong rivals should meet at an amateur rugby match, and immediately bet that house-painter Arthur can't train the amateur team in five weeks. If you don't mind thin plots and bare characterisation, Up 'N' Under makes for a very fun, light-hearted evening of entertainment.

The cast is professional and practiced, if uninspired. Alongside faultless Hull Truck Theatre Company regulars are Abi Titmuss, the self-described “celebrity turned award-winning actress”, and James Crossley of Gladiators fame and winner of the Ultimate Gladiator competition. The technical team doesn’t lower the standard with their superb lighting and variety of a well-chosen pop classics on the speakers.

The great irony of the piece, however, is that it is a play about a group of hopeless amateurs fighting against all the odds to be able to go toe-to-toe with slick, famous, financially secure competitors. It is therefore distracting that the Up ‘N’ Under team exist is made up by people in precisely the opposite situation: slick, famous, and financially secure, amateurish only in their theatrical experience. This is either the show's greatest strength or greatest weakness –depending on how much of the underdog you have in you.